Full-volume 3D seismic interpretation methods: A new step towards high-resolution seismic stratigraphy

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. B33-B47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victorien Paumard ◽  
Julien Bourget ◽  
Benjamin Durot ◽  
Sébastien Lacaze ◽  
Tobi Payenberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Seismic Data ◽  
Sedimentary Basins ◽  
Seismic Stratigraphy ◽  
Seismic Interpretation ◽  
3D Seismic ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Seismic Sequences ◽  
3D Seismic Data ◽  
Full Volume

Following decades of technological innovation, geologists now have access to extensive 3D seismic surveys across sedimentary basins. Using these voluminous data sets to better understand subsurface complexity relies on developing seismic stratigraphic workflows that allow very high-resolution interpretation within a cost-effective timeframe. We have developed an innovative 3D seismic interpretation workflow that combines full-volume and semi-automated horizon tracking with high-resolution 3D seismic stratigraphic analysis. The workflow consists of converting data from seismic (two-way traveltime) to a relative geological time (RGT) volume, in which a relative geological age is assigned to each point of the volume. The generation of a horizon stack is used to extract an unlimited number of chronostratigraphic surfaces (i.e., seismic horizons). Integrated stratigraphic tools may be used to navigate throughout the 3D seismic data to pick seismic unconformities using standard seismic stratigraphic principles in combination with geometric attributes. Here, we applied this workflow to a high-quality 3D seismic data set located in the Northern Carnarvon Basin (North West Shelf, Australia) and provided an example of high-resolution seismic stratigraphic interpretation from an Early Cretaceous shelf-margin system (Lower Barrow Group). This approach is used to identify 73 seismic sequences (i.e., clinothems) bounded by 74 seismic unconformities. Each clinothem presents an average duration of approximately 63,000 years (fifth stratigraphic order), which represents an unprecedented scale of observation for a Cretaceous depositional system on seismic data. This level of interpretation has a variety of applications, including high-resolution paleogeographical reconstructions and quantitative analysis of subsurface data. This innovative workflow constitutes a new step in seismic stratigraphy because it enables interpreters to map seismic sequences in a true 3D environment by taking into account the full variability of depositional systems at high frequency through time and space.

Space-time continuum in seismic stratigraphy: Principles and norms

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. T97-T108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farrukh Qayyum ◽  
Christian Betzler ◽  
Octavian Catuneanu
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Data ◽  
Seismic Stratigraphy ◽  
Seismic Interpretation ◽  
Space Time ◽  
Practical Significance ◽  
3D Seismic ◽  
Close Link ◽  
Time Continuum ◽  
3D Seismic Data ◽  
Stratigraphic Succession

Seismic stratigraphy is not only a geometric understanding of a stratigraphic succession, but it also has a close link to the space-time continuum started by H. E. Wheeler (1907–1987). The science follows the fundamental principles of stratigraphy, and the norms that govern seismic interpretation play a fundamental role due to their practical significance. The birth of computer-aided algorithms paved a new platform for seismic interpretation. The ideas from A. W. Grabau (1870–1946) and Wheeler were brought to a new level when space-time continuum was represented using 3D seismic data. This representation is commonly referred to as the Wheeler transformation, and it is based on flattening theories. Numerous algorithms have been introduced. Each suffers from its own problem and follow some assumption. The hydrocarbon industry, as well as academia, should seek a solution that is globally applicable to a stratigraphic succession irrespective of resolution, geologic challenges, and depositional settings. We have developed a review of the principles and norms behind these algorithms assisting in developing the space-time continuum of a stratigraphic succession using 2D/3D seismic data.

Controls On Deep-Water Sand Delivery Beyond the Shelf Edge: Accommodation, Sediment Supply, and Deltaic Process Regime

2020 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victorien Paumard ◽  
Julien Bourget ◽  
Tobi Payenberg ◽  
Annette D. George ◽  
R. Bruce Ainsworth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Seismic Data ◽  
Seismic Stratigraphy ◽  
Seismic Interpretation ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Shelf Edge ◽  
3D Seismic ◽  
Process Regime ◽  
Shelf Margin

ABSTRACT Stratigraphic models typically predict accumulation of deep-water sands where coeval shelf-edge deltas are developed in reduced-accommodation and/or high-sediment-supply settings. On seismic data, these relationships are commonly investigated on a small number of clinothems, with a limited control on their lateral variability. Advanced full-volume seismic interpretation methods now offer the opportunity to identify high-order (i.e., 4th to 5th) seismic sequences (i.e., clinothems) and to evaluate the controls on shelf-to-basin sediment transfer mechanisms and deep-water sand accumulation at these high-frequency scales. This study focuses on the Lower Barrow Group (LBG), a shelf margin that prograded in the Northern Carnarvon Basin (North West Shelf, Australia) during the Early Cretaceous. Thanks to high-resolution 3D seismic data, 30 clinothems (average time span of ∼ 47,000 years) from the D. lobispinosum interval (142.3–140.9 Ma) are used to establish quantitative and statistical relationships between the shelf-margin architecture, paleoshoreline processes, and deep-water system types (i.e., quantitative 3D seismic stratigraphy). The results confirm that low values of rate of accommodation/rate of sediment supply (δA/δS) conditions on the shelf are associated with sediment bypass, whereas high δA/δS conditions are linked to increasing sediment storage on the shelf. However, coastal process regimes at the shelf edge play a more important role in the behavior of deep-water sand delivery. Fluvial-dominated coastlines are typically associated with steep slope gradients and more mature, longer run-out turbidite systems. In contrast, wave-dominated shorelines are linked to gentle slope gradients, with limited development of turbidite systems (except rare sheet sands and mass-transport deposits), where longshore drift currents contributed to shelf-margin accretion through the formation of extensive strandplains. In this context, reduced volumes of sand were transported offshore and mud belts were accumulated locally. This study highlights that variations from fluvial- to wave-dominated systems can result in significant lateral changes in shelf-margin architecture (i.e., slope gradient) and impact the coeval development of deep-water systems (i.e., architectural maturity). By integrating advanced tools in seismic interpretation, quantitative 3D seismic stratigraphy represents a novel approach in assessing at high resolution the controls on deep-water sand delivery, and potentially predicting the type and location of reservoirs in deep water based on the shelf-margin architecture and depositional process regime.

scholarly journals High-resolution landform assemblage along a buried glacio-erosive surface in the SW Barents Sea revealed by P-Cable 3D seismic data

Geomorphology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 332 ◽  
pp. 33-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Bellwald ◽  
Sverre Planke ◽  
Nina Lebedeva-Ivanova ◽  
Emilia D. Piasecka ◽  
Karin Andreassen
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Seismic Data ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
3D Seismic ◽  
3D Seismic Data

Robust vector median filtering with a structure-adaptive implementation

Geophysics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 85 (5) ◽  
pp. V407-V414
Author(s):  
Yanghua Wang ◽  
Xiwu Liu ◽  
Fengxia Gao ◽  
Ying Rao
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Data ◽  
Impulse Noise ◽  
Reservoir Characterization ◽  
Median Filter ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Thin Layers ◽  
3D Seismic ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Vector Median ◽  
3D Seismic Data

The 3D seismic data in the prestack domain are contaminated by impulse noise. We have adopted a robust vector median filter (VMF) for attenuating the impulse noise from 3D seismic data cubes. The proposed filter has two attractive features. First, it is robust; the vector median that is the output of the filter not only has a minimum distance to all input data vectors, but it also has a high similarity to the original data vector. Second, it is structure adaptive; the filter is implemented following the local structure of coherent seismic events. The application of the robust and structure-adaptive VMF is demonstrated using an example data set acquired from an area with strong sedimentary rhythmites composed of steep-dipping thin layers. This robust filter significantly improves the signal-to-noise ratio of seismic data while preserving any discontinuity of reflections and maintaining the fidelity of amplitudes, which will facilitate the reservoir characterization that follows.

Application of sparse-layer inversion and harmonic bandwidth extension for a channel system in Southern Alberta, Canada

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. T217-T229
Author(s):  
Yang Mu ◽  
John Castagna ◽  
Gabriel Gil
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Data ◽  
Reflection Coefficients ◽  
3D Seismic ◽  
Bandwidth Extension ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Frequency Spectra ◽  
Channel System ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
Reflectivity Inversion ◽  
3D Seismic Data

Sparse-layer reflectivity inversion decomposes a seismic trace into a limited number of simple layer responses and their corresponding reflection coefficients for top and base reflections. In contrast to sparse-spike inversion, the applied sparsity constraint is less biased against layer thickness and can thus better resolve thin subtuning layers. Application to a 3D seismic data set in Southern Alberta produces inverted impedances that have better temporal resolution and lateral stability and a less blocky appearance than sparse-spike inversion. Bandwidth extension harmonically extrapolated the frequency spectra of the inverted layers and nearly doubled the usable bandwidth. Although the prospective glauconitic sand tunes at approximately 37 m, bandwidth extension reduced the tuning thickness to 22 m. Bandwidth-extended data indicate a higher correlation with synthetic traces than the original seismic data and reveal features below the original tuning thickness. After bandwidth extension, the channel top and base are more evident on inline and crossline profiles. Lateral facies changes interpreted from the inverted acoustic impedance of the bandwidth-extended data are consistent with observations in wells.

Iceberg ploughmarks in the SW Barents Sea imaged using high-resolution P-Cable 3D seismic data

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 281-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Vadakkepuliyambatta ◽  
S. Bünz ◽  
A. Tasianas ◽  
J. Mienert
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Seismic Data ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
3D Seismic ◽  
3D Seismic Data
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